Schooner Approaching Harbour

Alfred Wallis took up painting in 1922 following the death of his wife, producing scenes in and around his native St Ives in Cornwall. Wallis painted on found materials, in this case a tin tray, often using industrial boat paint. He was not bound by the conventions and one-point perspective of academic painting, and his work proved inspirational for contemporary artists such as Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood, who were attempting to break with tradition in their own work and develop a new pictorial language.